A dry election-weekend in Xalapa (written September 1)

Banning all selling of alcohol, La Ley Seca, or the Dry Law, took effect midnight last night and will last until 6pm tomorrow night, when polling places are to be closed. An entire 42 hours with no alcohol! While not really comparable to the days of good ol’ American Prohibition, it’s still leaving a lot of people pretty pissed off.

Since 1915, Article 245 in the state electoral code has stipulated that no alcohol can be sold beginning an entire 24 hours before the day of any state or national election, held always on a Sunday. Certainly, in part, the law was put into effect for the simple fact that a democracy can only function so well when those put in charge of it are chosen by people who make their decision while under the influence.

But also, it aims to limit the probability that polling lines will breakout into shouting and even fighting matches. This is a fair concern considering that already, where no alcohol was involved, members of the opposing PRD and PRI parties beat each other up at a PRI campaign rally. Also, my host-mom has just informed me, the ban takes effect so early to ensure the sobriety of voters when watching on TV President Calderón’s address, given earlier today at 12pm.

Fabiola Santoyo, the head of Canirac, the company that owns hundreds of statewide restaurant and bar establishments, is worried about the toll two days of closure could take on business profits, especially after many of the same businesses along the coast were forced closed in the wake of last week’s unexpected Hurricane Dean. Understanding the importance of having voters be sober at the polls, Santoyo calls for reforming the law to ban the sell of alcohol for the 12 hours prior to elections.

Verzcruz’s mayor, while promising to enforce the law as it stands, is taking Santoyo’s demands a step further in calling for the complete scrapping of la Ley Seca in the port city of Veracruz. Sharing the mayor’s view, David Bouchez Gomez, the head of the organization Coordinated Business Advice, told interviewers:

I believe that the Dry Law should not exist in cities with tourist characteristics,
but that it would return instantly upon the first occurrence of violence at the polls. (Courtesy of AZ Xalapa; Trans. from Sp.)

As they do most years the calls for reform to the law have fallen on deaf ears and as I write, the selling of alcohol has been illegal for nearly 17 hours. While respecting the good intentions of the law, I also think that for the sake of myself, and of the roughly 300 Canirac businesses that are likely to suffer major losses in these dry hours, changes have to be made. Besides, in reality, the root cause of the violence between opposing party members on election day is much less alcohol than it is the very volatile and unstable political atmosphere within which Mexico is currently trapped. Obviously, though, solving the latter problem would be a heck of a lot more difficult, so, for the time being, let’s just blame tequila.